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SUWANEE, Ga. — A gunman who was having financial problems held four firefighters for hours yesterday in a suburban Atlanta home, demanding that the utilities be turned back on, before he was shot dead when SWAT members stormed the house, authorities said.

The hostages suffered cuts and bruises from explosions that officers set off to distract the gunman before moving in, but they will be fine, a fire official said.

Minutes before the police announcement of the resolution, a huge blast could be heard by those a quarter-mile from the home, shuddering through the Suwanee neighborhood, setting off car alarms.

Earlier yesterday, five firefighters responded to what seemed like a routine medical call. They eventually were taken hostage by an unidentified suspect in the house, police said.

The gunman released one of the firefighters to move a fire truck but held the other four.

Dozens of police and rescue vehicles surrounded the home, and a negotiator had been keeping in touch with the gunman, police said.

A neighbor, Jaime Gossan, said that she and her husband live three doors down from the home where the firefighters were being held. She said her husband saw the firefighters enter the home, and later saw SWAT officers — 30 or more — surround the house. She said her husband also saw a robot go up to the house.

The situation remained tense until the blast rocked the neighborhood of mostly two-story homes and well-kept lawns.

Soon after the stun blast, officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter. A SWAT member was shot in a hand or arm but should be fine, Ritter said. He would not say how the gunman was fatally shot, saying it is being investigated.

“The explosion you heard was used to distract the suspect, to get into the house and take care of business,” Ritter said in a news conference minutes after the resolution.

He said the situation had gotten to the point where authorities thought the lives of the hostages were in “immediate danger.”

The gunman, who has not been identified, demanded that cable-television service and power be restored to the house, Ritter said.

According to public records, the home is in foreclosure and has been bank-owned since mid-November.

“It’s an unfortunate circumstance we did not want this to end this way,” Ritter said. “But with the decisions this guy was making, this was his demise.”

Firefighters were able to use their radios to let the dispatch center know what was going on, said Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said.

Ritter said officials decided to “get control of the situation” and do it swiftly.

Rutledge said the medical call seemed routine, and firefighters did not suspect any danger. One engine and one ambulance responded.

Ritter said authorities didn’t yet know whether the suspect might have faked a heart attack or some other problem to draw the firefighters to his home.

Rutledge said: “Our firefighters responded to a call they respond to hundreds of times, and that’s a medical emergency.”

Two ambulances could be seen leaving after the gunfire.

Asked what kind of weapon or weapons the suspect had, Ritter said he didn’t immediately know. He said investigators were in the house, where the suspect’s body remained.

Information from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was included in this story.